Automatic telephone apparatus



' Mhrch 30, 1937 A. BOYE 2,075,634

AUTOMATIC TELEPHONE APPARATUS Filed June 8, 1953 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.1

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A. BOYE AUTOMATIC TELEPHONE APPARATUS Filed June 8, 1955 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 2

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March 30, 19 37. A. BOYE 2,075,634

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AUTOMATIC TELEPHONE APPARATUS Filed June 8, 1933 7 Sheets-Sheet '7 194F250 BoY:

5 Y M Q H TTOE/YEKS Patented Mar. 30, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application June 8, 1933, Serial No. 674,792 In France June 14, 1932 1 Claim.

This invention relates to apparatus for making calls with rapidity in automatic telephony.

There already exists an apparatus designed to be utilized in automatic telephony in the place 5 of the ordinars rotary dial for calling a station with which it is desired to be connected, said apparatus comprising several rows of rotary discs, equal in number to that of the number of current interruptions to be produced in the line 10 in order to establish automatically the connection, for Paris for example, three rows of discs; one for the station call'signal (Cent. for example) one for the first group of digits (23 for example) and one for the second group (34 for example) 15 the discs being provided with teeth and the like for opening a so-called short circuit switch, appropriate to each row of teeth and brought over the disc in said row that corresponds to the desired call in such a manner that during the whole time in which every short circuit switch is open, a predetermined suitable number of current interruptions are sent in the line by another switch rotating permanently at a constant speed, and shunted relatively to the short circuit switches which are themselves mounted in series, and in such manner also that consequently the operation is ended when all the rows of discs have completed their rotation.

The present invention has for its object an apparatus of the kind above described which is characterized firstly in that to the rows of discs are substituted an equal number of solid cylinders provided around their circumference with lines of bosses arranged in steps according to length in a number equal to that of the call signals they are designed to compose or, in other words, to the number of groups of interruptions they are designed to produce, (say 60 lines of bosses for the first cylinder if there are 60 sta tions to supply and 100 lines of bosses for the number cylinders) these lines of bosses all begin ning at the same generatrix and comprising each a suitable number of bosses divided from one another by intervals of the same value each of a length suited to the letter or the digit which it must form.

This arrangement has the great advantage that it allows of these cylinders being made by casting so that their construction is much less costly than that of the discs, there is no assembling of the latter to be considered, no danger of their coming out of adjustment and they have a greater resistance. 7

Another feature of this invention consists in 55 theprovision for connecting every cylinder with the general movement of the apparatus of a gear mechanism combined with the bosses of the preceding cylinder in such a manner that the considered cylinder begins to move as soon as the last boss upon the preceding cylinder has 5 completed its operation.

According to one mode of execution the last boss of each line of bosses in every cylinder is provided at its end with a projection in the path of which a lever pivoted upon the frame of the corresponding short circuit switch is mounted, said lever being designed to actuate, when it is moved by said projection, the locking element of a pawl integral with the cylinder following the considered cylinder and thus allow said pawl to engage in a'rotary ratchet wheel designed for driving said cylinder, with the result that as soon as one cylinder has ended its operation-- without having completed its rotation-the fol lowing cylinder begins to turn and consequently there is no delay in the sending of the current interruptions in the line from one cylinder to the other. 7

Another feature of this invention consists in the arrangement of a contact for short circuiting 5 the microphone and: the receiver during the sending of current interruptions, one blade of said contact being engaged with a hook integral with a locking device of the general movement so that the unlocking stroke of said device causes through a pull upon said hook the closing of the contact, a mechanism provided at its end with a lever arm being placed in the path of the end projections of the last bosses upon the last cylinder, said mechanism when inoperative being 5 positioned under the aforesaid hook so that as soon as the last cylinder has ended its operation relatively to the corresponding short circuit switch, said arm lifts the hook and thus allows the blade to open the contact through the efiect of its elasticity, consequently putting again the microphone and the receiver incircuit.

Other detail features of the invention will be apparent during the course of the following description.

The appended drawings show by way of ex ample one mode of execution of an apparatus according to the present invention, in the case of three cylinders being utilized for composing call signals such as Cent. 23-24 used in Paris. Figs. 1 and 2 are respectively a developed plan view illustrating respectively the cylinder designed to form the call signal of the station to be :connected and a cylinder designed to form a pair of digits, the indications upon said figure being in fact inscribed upon an index plate placed above the cylinders.

Fig. 3 is a plan view illustrating the general arrangement of the mechanism and of the cylinders (the short circuit switches being excepted).

Fig. 4. is a front elevation showing the driving gears diagrammatically.

Fig. 5 is a corresponding developed plan view.

Fig. 6 is an elevation of the mechanism used for the successive driving of the cylinders.

Fig. 7 is a corresponding part plan View.

Fig. 8 illustrates the locking mechanism of the movement, and driving mechanism of the interrupter used for short circuiting the microphone and the receiver.

Fig. 9 is a front view of a short circuit switch.

Fig. 10 is the diagram of the connections.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the apparatus shown (in Figs. 3, 4 and 5) comprises a clockwork motor IOI whose shaft I02 carries on the exterior a handle I03 and on its inner side a pinion I04. When the handle is depressed to a position limited by an abutment, the pinion I04 slides under apawl I05 integral with a main wheel I06 so that as soon as the handle has been released, it rises and the shaft I02 with the pinion I04 rotate in the opposite direction, the wheel I06 being drawn along in the rotary movement.

The wheel I06 drives a pinion I01 integral with a wheel I 08 which in its turn drives another pinion I09 secured upon a middle shaft H0. The latter drives, by means of appropriate gears, another shaft III supporting a cam or interrupter I I2 arranged to open a contact I I3I I4 twice at every turn, the rotation of said cam being regulated by a speed regulator of any suitable kind II5.

The shaft I I0 is extended in order to constitute an axis of rotation for the middle cylinder of the hundreds H6 and it carries a wheel II1 which by the intermediary of pinions H8, H9 causes the rotation in the same direction of two other wheels I20, I2I with their shafts I22, I23 forming the axes of rotation for the cylinders II6 II6 of the call signal and of the units respectively.

Upon the shafts I22, IIO, I23 are carried discs I24, I25, I26 (Fig. 6) which when inoperative are locked by means of pawls I21 I28 I29 integral with oscillating levers I21, I28, I29, said pawls being engaged in notches I30, I3I, I32 in said discs by the action exerted by a spring I33 upon the first lever which is connected to the two others by means of a connecting rod I34. This connecting rod is provided with a projection I34 which when in its inoperative position acts as a stop for a part I35 mounted upon the shaft III of the interrupter H2 and thus prevents its rotation.

It will therefore be seen that it will be necessary to first move the connecting rod I34 to the right in order to start the whole apparatus.

On the other hand the shafts I22, IIO, I23 carry ratchet wheels I36, I31, I38 which will rotate permanently as soon as the discs I24, I25, I26 are unlocked. For this purpose there is provided upon the clockwork motor shaft I02 a cam I39 whose projecting part I 39 pushes back the pawl I21 when the hand lever I03 is depressed and thus unlocks the whole system. When the hand lever is set free, the projection I39 rotates in the opposite direction but does not immediately free the pawl I21 so that a cam I40 actuated by the intermediary of the gears I4I--I42, from the shaft IIO has sufficient time to come to look a pin I43 on the connecting rod I34 which is then at I43 and thus allow the whole mechanism to rotate up to the moment when a notch I40 upon said cam comes in the position shown in Fig. 6 and then allows said pin to return to its first position in which the discs I24, I 25, I26 are locked by the pawls of the levers I21, I28, I29.

It will therefore be seen that between the starting of the mechanism and the instant when it stops the cam I40 accomplishes exactly one turn. By way of indication it will be noted that the gear ratio I4II42 is such that during that time the shaft H0, and consequently both the other shafts, can accomplish three revolutions this being sufiicient to allow the three cylinders to complete their operation.

It has only been ascertained now that the axes of rotation of said cylindersthe latter not being secured upon the shafts I22, IIO, I23-carry ratchet wheels which may rotate as soon as the winding lever is released, make 3 revolutions and stop.

As will be seen in Fig. 6 upon every one of the cylinders H6 H6 H6 is provided a pivoted pawl I44 I44, I48 designed to transmit the movements of the ratchet wheels I36, I31, I38 to said cylinders.

When inoperative, the tail I45 of the first pawl I44 is locked by the wall I46 of a lever I41 pivoted upon a stationary part I48 of the apparatus frame, so that the hook on the pawl is out of engagement with the ratchet wheel I 30. The lever I421 is provided on the other hand with an arm I49 which when in the aforesaid inoperative position engages a notch I50 in cylinder II6 and locks the latter, and with a second arm I5I which may be moved second projection I39 of the cam I39 when the handle I03 which drives said cam through the shaft I02 is depressed. Springs are naturally provided to draw the lever I41 towards its inoperative position and the pawl I44 towards the engagement with the ratchet wheel I 36; these springs have not been shown in the drawings for the sake of clearness. It will now be understood that the depression of the hand lever I03 will not only produce the unlocking of the three shafts I22, III], I23, as before mentioned but also that the pawl I44 whose hook will engage the ratchet wheel I36, and that of the cylinder II6 so that the latter will start rotating. The projection I 39 of the cam I39 which begins to 1'0- tate in the opposite direction as soon as the hand lever I03 is released is suitably shaped to free the arm I5I at about of its own return stroke, that is to say when the first cylinder has made a revolution in such a manner that the cylinder is again looked after a complete revolution.

It will now be necessary to explain the constitution of the cylinders. The first one H6 (station call signal) comprises (Fig. 1) as many lines of bosses as there are telephone stations to supply. Considering that in the example which has been selected every station is designated by interval, the same as in the cylinder H6 In this case also all the first bosses start from the same generatrix I58. Three runners I59 I592 I56 which may be brought above the selected line of bosses are slidingly mounted over the three cylinders. For this purpose said runners are provided with indexes I66 and guiding marks, directions (letters and numbers) being traced upon a horizontal plate I6I arranged at the top of the apparatus.

The runners are each provided with a short circuit switch consisting of two blades I62, I63, which frictionally engage twoblades I64, I65 and when inoperative are electrically connected together. One of said blades is integral with an insulated finger I66 I66, I66, which when engaging the bosses of the corresponding rotary cylinder breaks the contact between these two blades. Referring now to Fig. 10 it will easily be seen that the three short circuit switches are mounted in series and that the whole is shunted relatively to the contact II3--I I4 controlled by the interrupter IE2, so that when any one of the short circuit switches is open, the electric current interruptions produced at a regular cadency by the interrupter H2 are sent in the line L of the telephone station, the latter being connected to the present apparatus by a connecting plug P the male contacts of which are designated by abcd and the corresponding female contacts by a b c d The action of the contacts c-c cZ-d will appear hereinafter.

Referring now again to the runners it will be seen (Fig. 6) that they each carry a hanging lever I61 I61, I61 which when the corresponding cylinder rotates is pressed back by a projection I68 (Fig. 9) at the end of the last boss in every line of bosses of every cylinder, this projection being however included in said boss so as to keep the time of raising of the finger such as I66 unchanged.

During the above indicated movement, the lever I61 of the first runner presses back a bar I66 integral with another lever I10 pivoted at I1I in such a manner that a pawl I12 carried by said lever I16 which was engaged in a notch I14 of the second cylinder II6 comes out of said notch and frees said cylinder, and that a boss I15 of the same lever I16 frees the tail I45 of pawl IN and allows the latter to engage the ratchet wheel I31 and consequently to cause the displacement of the cylinder I IIS It will therefore be seen that as soon as the last boss in a line in the first cylinder has come under the short circuit switch which co-operates with said cylinder, the second cylinder starts and begins its operation.

The hanging lever I61 of the second runner fills the same office, by similar means with regard tothe third cylinder so that the latter begins to rotate as soon as the second cylinder has ended its effective function.

It has already been seen how the first cylinder is stopped at the end of a revolution. It will now be seen that when the second cylinder has accomplished one revolution it will also be stopped owing to the pawl I12 falling back in its notch I14 simultaneously with the relocking of its pawl. The third cylinder will be stopped in the same manner at the end of a revolution.

Referring again to the general diagram in Fig. 10, it will be seen that a branch circuit passing through the contacts c--c (1-11 of the junction P is provided for short circuiting the microphone M and the receiver R, said branch circuit may be closed by means of a contact consisting of two blades of which the one I16 is divided from the other through the effect of an initial voltage (Fig. 8). in the required direction for producing the contact by means of a hook I18 pivoted at the end of the looking lever I29 of disc I26. Said hook is pressed in the required locking direction by a spring I19 but may be raised by a finger I80 integral with a lever I6I pivoted at I82, integral itself with a bar I 83 which may be actuated by a lever I61 of the third runner I59.

Consequently when the cam I39 pushes back the pawl I21 the contact I16-I11 is closed by the hook I18, and when the last boss of a line of bosses upon the third cylinder has come under the finger of the short circuit switch, the projection I68 pushes back the lever I61, and by the intermediary of the lever I8I causes the lifting of the hook I18, so that the contact I16I11 opens again. The microphone and the receiver are therefore put again in circuit when the sending of all the current interruptions is ended. Now when the third cylinder has accomplished its revolution, it is looked as well as the three discs I24, I25, I26 and the lever I29 which in particular serves to lock the disc I26 returns the hook I18 to its starting position behind the blade I16. The interrupter H2 is also locked by the projection I 34 and the apparatus is ready for a new operation.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

In an automatic telephone apparatus, the combination of a plurality of rotary cylinders, each cylinder having an exterior surface provided with. a plurality of elongated embossings, a plurality of projecting members, a separate one of said projecting members being situated at an end of each of said embossings, a plurality of levers, each of said levers being adapted to be moved by some of said projecting members, a plurality of other levers, each of the second-mentioned levers being adapted to be moved by a separate one of the first-mentioned levers, mechanical clutching and disengaging means adapted to be actuated by the second-mentioned levers to cause one of said cylinders to begin its rotation as soon as the rotation of another one of said cylinders has been terminated, a plurality of switches, the number of said switches being equal to that of said cylinders, a separate one of the first-mentioned levers being pivotally mounted on'a separate one of said switches, and means connected with said switches and actuated by the firstmentioned levers to create impulses of electrical energy in electrical circuits.

ALFRED BOYE.

This blade I16 may be drawn 

